This article is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report part of Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN), and is complimentary through May 17, 2026. For information on becoming an AWIN Member to access more content like this, click here.
A Navy F/A-18F fires an AGM-88G during a test flight.
The U.S. Navy intends to pause procurement for a Northrop Grumman anti-radiation missile in fiscal 2027, then resume orders, newly released budget documents show.
The Navy ordered 172 AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) missiles from Northrop through fiscal 2025, then received funding to buy 88 more this year.
But the fiscal 2027 budget proposal includes only $24 million for AGM-88G procurement, with no money available for new missile orders. The justification book for the Navy’s weapons procurement attributes the funding cut to a “strategic pause.”
“AARGM-ER is a critical weapon system for our warfighters, and we are actively partnered with the U.S. Navy to rapidly field this capability,” a Northrop spokesperson said April 21.
The proposed one-year freeze comes a year after AARGM-ER missiles failed during two out of three tests against representative integrated air defense land targets, the director for the office of test and evaluation reported in March.
Meanwhile, Navy officials expressed interest in February in a longer-range alternative to the AARGM-ER. The Advanced Emission Suppression Missile should also be able to be produced in quantities of 300 a year, according to a market survey released by the Navy.
Related Content
